Lady Rams unable to overcome rain, miscues
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — A late-afternoon thunderstorm that lasted into the early evening and a chippy atmosphere made for a difficult night for Valley High School, as the Lady Rams (3-5, 2-4) lost 25-6 to Loachapoka High School on Sept. 22.
The Lady Indians (4-3, 4-3) won their third straight game after intercepting five Valley passes and scoring both offensive and special teams touchdowns. The Lady Rams’ recent two-game winning streak was also broken.
The night started well for Valley. Kailee Harris threw an 11-yard TD pass to Ka’Mora Prothro with 8:36 left in the first quarter to put the Lady Rams up 6-0, though the extra point was intercepted by Loachapoka. Sevien Potts then recorded an interception for the Lady Rams near the Valley 26 yard line seconds before the first quarter ended.
However, Loachapoka answered in the second quarter with a 2-yard TD run by Makayla Roberts and an extra point run to take a 7-6 lead.
Valley had a chance to go back in front when Harris broke an explosive 58-yard run to set up the Lady Rams at the Loachapoka 12-yard line, but Loachapoka’s Lauren Smith intercepted a pass in the end zone with 6:04 left in the second quarter.
Taniah Veasley gave Valley another spark with an interception with 1:10 left in the second quarter near the Lady Rams’ own 16 yard line, but Jalady Winchester scored on a 33-yard punt return with 33 seconds left before halftime, giving Loachapoka a 13-6 lead at the break.
The Lady Rams’ defense kept making plays in the second half. Potts recorded her second interception at 11:47 in the third quarter at the Loachapoka 11 yard line, but Loachapoka picked off Valley on the very next play. Loachapoka added touchdown runs of 38 and 11 yards to pull away.
Valley head coach William Elliot said the Lady Indians’ pass rush made the difference.
“For some reason, we seem to have trouble when we get any pressure on our quarterback, and that’s really what [Loachapoka was] doing,” Elliot said. “They were sending two rushers and pressuring our quarterback, and that made her throw those interceptions. That’s pretty much it.”
Elliot also pointed to needed improvement regarding mental toughness. He said if the Lady Rams are to accomplish their remaining goals, they must learn how to handle adversity.
“Sometimes when things don’t go our way in a game, we have a hard time recovering from that,” Elliot said. “Specifically, that one play right there where the two girls ran into each other and my girl kept running into the end zone. As soon as that was called back, I’m sitting there thinking, ‘That’s probably something that’ll be an issue and something we have to fight through.’ That’s what it comes down to. If something doesn’t go our way, we seem to have a tough time fighting through that.”
Valley lost 13-8 to Anniston High School at home on Sept. 24, and will face Talladega High School on the road on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
The Lady Rams’ next home game is against Loachapoka on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. ET.
